Real Alternatives has received over 15,000 calls for help at 1-888-LIFE-AID
November 7, 2008, Harrisburg, PA, – Real Alternatives, Inc., statewide program administrator for Pennsylvania’s Alternative to Abortion Services Program, has served over 15,000 clients seeking pregnancy and parenting support on its toll-free hotline 1-888-LIFE-AID.
“Real Alternatives offers hope to thousands of women facing unplanned pregnancies,” said Susan Lawruk, one of Real Alternatives hotline counselors. “Through Real Alternatives -funded service providers, the women that I speak with are given the comprehensive support they need – they understand that they are not alone.”
Real Alternatives toll-free referral program is unique. Once a woman, from anywhere in the Commonwealth calls toll-free, she receives initial crisis intervention counseling. She is then asked for her zip code and her call is patched to another counselor located at her closest pregnancy support center, social service agency, adoption agency or maternity home. The woman talks with a counselor in her community who can be with her through the crisis pregnancy and 12 months afterward. With 119 Real Alternatives-funded centers throughout the Commonwealth, there is a center within 60 minutes of most women in Pennsylvania.
In order to make the 1-888-LIFE-AID toll-free hotline effective, women throughout the Commonwealth are informed of the support from this program through television, radio, newspaper, telephone book, and bus advertisements. Since 1997, over $4 million in advertising has been spent throughout the Commonwealth to reach out to women in need.
The PA Alternatives to Abortion Services Program has served over 145,000 women at Pennsylvania life-affirming centers since its inception in 1995 and is currently funded at $5.65 million per year by the Commonwealth’s Department of Public Welfare and Department of Health. Women experiencing unplanned pregnancies can find their closest center by calling toll-free at 1-888-LIFE-AID or by visiting www.realalternatives.org.
In 2006, Texas Health and Human Services signed a $2.5 million-a-year agreement with Texas Pregnancy Care Network to offer statewide government-funded alternatives to abortion using the Real Alternatives model. Since its conception, $333,000 in advertising has been spent throughout Texas to reach out to women facing crisis pregnancies. In addition, the LIFE-AID hotline has received 799 calls from Texas.